Primarily my goal is to use this blog to encourage, inspire and even tell some funny but applicable stories. However there will be times like this one...where I am just catching people up on my life, my plans etc.
I'm a little in awe and slightly confused and terrified of how many people have read this page. When I started this (living in Turkey) maybe 7-15 people ever read anything I posted. Really I did not do much with it, it was just a way to keep in touch. The other day when I felt like I should write on here again and try to use this as a tool that ideally encourages people the first post was read 43 times, the second 60 and the most recent over a 100 times. (I only figured out how to tell if people read it the other day) where and who are the other 90 people? I have even had people I don't know write and say thanks or friend me on facebook. So to all you folks I don't know as well, thanks for reading and this one is more an informational update so feel free to skip it. :-). To those who have been standing with me and praying the last few months this will ideally catch you up...atleast as far as I can catch you up/
I realize it has been awhile since I put together an update. Last I really communicated via Facebook I was still in Wyoming though I had plans to spend the winter and spring months with my mom in SD.
Over the fall and winter months I had been fighting some “bug” of sorts and had been coughing since August, had my body start going haywire in the fall months and had been exhausted, like inexplicably tired all the time by December. In those last few weeks in Nov and Dec I was trying to find help with a doctor and getting them to run some tests…but I never did tell you what they found.
That would be because we didn’t find anything???? Thyroid was fine (though you can pray I can pay for it cause the bill came back several hundred higher then I anticipated!!) I was a bit anemic but that was to be expected after 54 days of struggling with the same issue I dealt with for 81 days while living in Turkey -7 years ago. At least it was not 12 years like the woman found in Luke 8:43-47. On top of all that as I was packing I found moisture had snuck into my cookbooks that sat on my kitchen counter covering the bottom sides of many the less used ones with black mold. I already knew I was allergic to black mold from a past season of migraines, exhaustion and a chest cold that kept getting worse...so perhaps I should have gone mold hunting sooner!. So I threw the books out…(or atleast most of them…it was found the last day or so of packing and some foolishly landed in my “for storage box” cause I was in a hurry!!.
I figure in part living with mold probably had to do with the exhaustion, respritory issues etc and such of the last few months. I also suspect the hormone imbalance I have dealt with since puberty (though only knew about since Turkey) flared up causing the the 54 days of yuck due to my second extended fast of the year.
I don’t blame the fasting, cause I know Fasting is a great spiritual discipline that also has incredible health benefits. I do blame my inexperience in how close together one should or should NOT attempt 40 day fasts. I have recently learned that most experts in fasting advise that you wait at-least 6 months to a year between doing extended fasts (anything over 21 days). Otherwise you sort of send your body into panic mode. I had spent quite a few days since the fall of 2015 fasting and praying and even went 21 and 30 days in extended fasting only a short 4 months apart. It was actually during that last fast that my body quit doing things it should do…and then when it did kick in it just wouldn't stop. More about the cool things that came out of this past year or two of seeking God in coming weeks or months.
In the meantime I am taking birth control pills to retrain my body to function normally each month. After a few months I plan to go back off of them, cause that is a chemical I really don’t want in my system. Besides if God blesses me with a husband in the next few years I hope for a "honey moon pregnancy"! I may have to give up my desire for 6-8 kids but I can still pray for twins!!
Physically I am still often tired, but not anything like I was, and the cough has lifted completly…so I guess I am hoping it will just take time for my body to detox, and I will be back to my mischevious self!!!
I am also trying to eat in such a way that my body can free itself from the symptoms of PCOS. I have learned a lot in the last few months something I wish I had known from Turkey onward…but that is what happens when you have to get a diagnosis in another language. I already rarely eat grains, but I have cut them out even more, and am working on cutting out dairy and sugar…which is a harder sacrifice!!! I tried Paleo and only lasted a week. Pray for me in this journey to reclaim my energy and to find health.
It was while trying to get my body particularly my hormones to line up and work right I was doing research trying to find something not chemical based pill to step in and help. I kept coming across articles suggesting different foods, herbs, supplements and in particular essential oils. I even took a weekend class on the topic. Oils being very expensive were not something I could afford at that time (or at this time), but I could see their benefits, and knew I wanted to learn more. I even asked God to open up that door of opportunity. Guess what He answered my prayers!!!
Which brings me to my life now. I ended up coming to South Dakota a few weeks sooner then I had planned and it all happened so fast. There is so much I did not get done, and honestly I didn’t get to say goodbye to most of my friends there. But there is a cool story in the timeing of things that I will tell at a future date! Mom and I really haven't started on many of her projects. But honestly I needed the first few weeks to just start feeling better. It was a real success to stay awake past 8 pm. Now I can get to 10 or 11!!! And mom’s body, and doctors were trying to figure out a low dose of Chemo to keep her on that did not have her feeling sick. So we were quite a low key pair!
I really did not start the job hunt until late January. I could easily go to one of the factories in the area and find a decent paying job, but in this season I need my schedule to be flexible. If at all possible I want to go to appointments with my mom. And when her dose is figured out and they get into a system where she can have a month or so between appointments I am hoping she and I can do some traveling. Namely out to Michigan to see my brothers and his girls. So I have a few applications out but sadly to places not yet hiring like the grocery store and gas station. However I also have a few out to day care centers, the library and potentially the school district. So please pray for work to come along and provision as I have exhausted what little was in my savings account and might have 40 bucks to my name.
In the meantime one job sort of found me.
A few weeks after getting here mom was invited to a class on Essential Oils. I was interested in going so we both went. The lady sitting next to us knew a lot about mixing the oils for certain symptoms so we arranged to get a vial for headaches and one for heartburn for my mom. (both have worked great by the way and mom even got a third for coughs!!!) I told the lady I had recently started looking into oils and would like to learn more. I also mentioned I would be in the area until summer or fall and was hoping to find work. She offered to sit down with me at anytime and help me learn more about the oils and how to mix them for peoples needs and also suggested I stop by the local vet clinic and talk to her husband about a job.
So on Saturdays I help out at the clinic and potentially another day or two during the week as needed. So far I am really enjoying it. I like animals and I am learning a lot I just never knew about the medical side of critters. Both the Doc and his wife are great about answering questions and it’s all pretty knew to me. I am still waiting to hear on a second part time job, but I am spending more time writing and that is good! Mom and I have also started tackling a few of the easier things on her project list. And I have gotten to get more involved in my church here locally. I have really missed that!!! Last week and Tuesday of this week were and are measuring kids feet at the local schools for a company that is donating shoes. I guess my experience at Sierra in the Shoe Department has come in handy.
I am in good company, wasn’t D. L Moody a shoe salesmen before he heard the call of God to preach the gospel? And Gladys Alyward was commissioned by the Emperor of China to go into the villages and unbind the girl’s feet. Doors to preach through out rural China, as well as minister to the Emperor came through her willingness to say yes.
So often in scripture we can see the pattern of God opening incredible doors as people just moved forward in obedience. And often amazing fruit-fullness came out of what looked like an interruption to the agenda or even a wrong step. I don’t know what the future holds and life has definitely taken some unexpected turns but I know for a fact that My God has great plans in store for me!!! As He does for you as well.
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